Modern mobile devices may include sensors such as optical sensors, which are used to measure biometric information. For example, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor obtains volumetric measurements of blood vessels near the skin surface. When the heart pumps blood, the resulting pressure pulse causes changes to blood vessels. The pressure pulse may distend arteries and arterioles in skin tissue. An optical sensor, such as a PPG sensor, may be used to detect a change in blood vessel volume caused by the pressure pulse. Blood vessel volume change caused by the pressure pulse is detected by illuminating the skin with the light from a light-emitting diode (LED) and then measuring the amount of light either transmitted or reflected to a photodiode. Blood vessel volume change caused by blood flow to the skin may be modulated by various physiological parameters. Therefore, the information provided by PPG sensors may be used to obtain a variety of biometric measurements.
One drawback of optical sensors, such as PPG sensors, is that the biometric measurements obtained are sensitive to user movement. Thus, even small user movements such as typing, hand movement, and/or other subtle movements can affect the measurements and introduce noise and other artifacts into the measured signals.